The red moon returns

Chapter 24 A Chance Encounter at City Hall
  At 5:15 a.m. on May , the two entered the City Hall of Crown Plaza.

With V's order, Officer Natalie escaped from the tedious and tiring on-site investigation, and could confidently follow Lynch around to laze around. Several angry watchmen stomped their feet at the back of the two of them, full of people. It’s the grievances of the field staff.

Lynch was very happy. Not only did he receive a large sum of money, but he also gained an effective helper.

The cooperation the night before made Lynch feel grateful and admirable to the police officer. Now that he could cooperate for the second time, and V ordered the police officer to cooperate with him, Lynch couldn't even close his mouth with laughter. After all, this temporary partner was not only a bit violent. , everything fits perfectly.

Especially the identity of the Watcher.

All information related to this railway is stored in the city hall. It is very troublesome for ordinary people to check it, but it is much easier with Natalie coming forward.

Although the Watchers are not real police, they have higher authority than the police, and they are also labeled as an agency directly under the royal family. No one dares to stop their actions casually. This makes Lynch extremely lucky that he had an idea and roped in the Watchers. is conducting its own investigation.

There are also sufficient reasons to convince Natalie. The massacre in the square was obviously aimed at the protests, and the protests were an extension of the Best Tunnel incident. The Best Tunnel is part of the entire railway. Instead of staring at it, In the square investigation, it is better to jump out of the specific case and go through the information as a whole from the source.

Although he has selfish motives, this reason is indeed justified.

The case of bizarre death has only recently attracted the attention of the client. Before, it only existed in the form of gossip. No one took it seriously, and the Watchmen were not involved. Therefore, none of them had thoroughly sorted out railway information, and now was the opportunity.

Walking into the grand and majestic building of the City Hall, the building is solemn and quiet.

The impact of the chaos two hours ago seemed to have dissipated, and the government officials in formal hats in the building walked hurriedly but extremely quietly.

The archives were in the basement. The guard at the door led the two of them deep into the hall. Just as they were about to go downstairs, Lynch suddenly stopped and turned his eyes to the side.

Seven or eight people were coming down from upstairs, and several servants were crowding around a young lady wearing a green shawl and a goose-yellow lady's dress. The lady held a folding fan in her hand and smiled elegantly. Yongrong walked down the stairs while talking softly to two government employees.

Lynch turned back not because the noble young lady was beautiful enough, but because a picture suddenly flashed before his eyes.

A woman with a strange appearance, half human and half animal, but equally graceful manner, is holding up an exquisite necklace and wearing it around her neck.

[Karena’s exquisite makeup, I hope my makeup will never fade. 】

Hiss, it's probably a magical thing that can ensure that makeup won't fade. How come there are such boring magical things in the world, and there are still people using them. This person carries strange objects with her. Is she also a soul-shifter?

【Yes. 】

"What's wrong?" Although Lynch glanced at him and then looked away, Officer Natalie was still keenly aware of his behavior of stealing glances at the passing lady.

"That woman just now, a soul shifter, was carrying a boring strange object. I thought it was a bit strange."

"Uh... do you know the guy just now, sir?" Officer Natalie was a little embarrassed. She didn't recognize him either, so she could only turn around and ask the guard.

"She seems to be a big noble, the eldest daughter of the Valente family. She reported her identity when she came here just now."

The great nobleman, the soul-shifter, happened to appear in the city hall next to the square?

Lynch narrowed his eyes and pondered for a moment: "Do you remember when they came?"

"It was a little after eight o'clock. I had just started working and there was no one in the hall yet."

Hiss, the timing is right. This person appeared here just before the incident broke out. Could it be really related to this incident?

It can't be such a coincidence. I can't just see a soul shifter and feel suspicious. Traveling companion, are there any mysterious reactions nearby?

【there is none left. 】

Okay, let’s be suspicious for now, the eldest daughter of the Valente family, and check it out later.

Lynch nodded, looked back at the retreating figures of the group, and then followed the guard into the archives.

With their status as watchers, the two of them did not encounter any obstacles. In other words, the biggest obstacle was that the staff of the archives were too cooperative. They were obedient and found almost all the files related to the railway. They stood tall in front of the two. There was a pile high.

Both of their faces turned pale. Only then did they realize that what they were looking for was information on a national project related to the national economy and people's livelihood. It was strange that the content was missing. Fortunately, the construction had not officially started yet, otherwise it would not have been possible to have more information. strangeness.

No way, let’s see.

"We will work together. If you see the key points, tell me."

The lady police officer hummed slightly.

The two of them divided their work and opened the thick files. For a while, there was only the rustling of papers and the occasional low-pitched exchange between the two in the archives.

Soon, the curtain gradually opened in front of the two people.

The age of steam began, and roaring trains began to affect the destiny of every country.

As the leading country in the Steam Age, the Rand Kingdom also laid a large number of railway tracks. However, the Carlos Mountains, which stretches for hundreds of kilometers, blocks the extension of the railway. There is never a railway connecting the two economic pearls, one in the south and one in the north. They still can only rely on water transportation by the Rand River and several detours. 100 kilometers, transfer from other cities.

Freight will be delayed for at least three to five days, potentially costing thousands of rand pounds per train.

A philosopher once said that interest is the driving force behind all actions.

The loss of banknotes made everyone red-eyed, so the Rose family and the Duke of Wien family, the Rhine governors who had controlled the area around the Rhine for hundreds of years, proposed the first Nolin-Rhine railway through the Karlos Mountains. . After several years of preparation and investigation, a feasible access road has finally been planned. It only needs to dig several tunnels several kilometers long around Best Mountain to open up the railway on both sides.

In order to ensure that the tunnel was opened, some "special people" were mobilized on both sides to assist in the construction, which shows the importance attached to the project.

It was originally expected to officially start in August, and some preliminary construction has already begun. However, as the construction period approaches, the mountain residents of Best Mountain suddenly erupted in fierce opposition and incited the road construction workers to stop work and engage in violent protests, causing many problems. Bloodshed and even deaths occurred.

As for today's protest, it is obviously a counterattack against the mountain people.

Lynch took a long breath and closed the file. When he looked up, he found that Officer Natalie was sitting opposite, holding her chin and staring at him, looking a little fascinated.

"What's wrong?" Lin Qi looked down at himself in confusion. He was neatly dressed and not out of shape.

Looking up again, I found that the police officer had looked away. Her expression was a little stiff, but she immediately returned to normal: "It's nothing. You look so focused. Can you really conclude anything from it?"

"Yeah, it's still possible."

Lynch opened the detective record book, turned to a new page, and wrote down the time and place in Chinese and Arabic numerals as usual.

Ms. Natalie just glanced at it casually and said nothing. There are too many words in the world, and Lin Qiyuan is a graduate of archeology and natural history. It is normal for her to know several ancient words that she does not understand. .

"What do you see? I think it's just a railway project. It may be useful if it is built, but now it is opposed."

Lynch, like he used to watch political dramas, recorded all the information just now while sorting it out, and at the same time he did not forget to ask: "Who would object?"

"Mountain people."

"The reason?"

The police officer tilted her head with a confused expression as she watched Lynch speak faster and faster.

"The mountain people are opposed, why are they opposed? Then, can a group of mountain people who are hundreds of kilometers away be able to cause such a big disturbance in Rhine City? Is there someone behind it? If so, who is it?"

Officer Natalie shook her head vigorously.

"Then we have to consider why they support the mountain people. Most conflicts can be attributed to conflicts of interest. So, whose interests are harmed may be supporters of the mountain people, and whose interests will be harmed? "

"I think people across the country will benefit."

"No, in fact, the interests of many people will be harmed secretly. The details need to be investigated, but I can think of a few right now, such as the shipping industry on the Rand River."

Lynch's fingers traced the water transport mentioned in the dossier.

“And there are cities on the original rail transportation routes.”

Then he crossed the text that traveled hundreds of kilometers.

"In general, those who have the greatest interests under the original model are mostly the ones who suffer losses. As for the indirect losses, there are even more, but we are not sure yet." Lynch sighed, knowing that if he In this world, there will definitely be more gains. "These people whose interests have been harmed may support the mountain people to obstruct the plan. Then the people whose interests have been harmed because of their obstruction may become the organizers of today's protest, and Those who support the mountain people may become the masterminds who control the mysterious tragedy today."

"Hey, I see, it does make sense. Doesn't that mean that this case is likely to be very involved?"

"Yes, but it's only possible. This is too arbitrary, so we need to investigate further, but try not to leak any information about our investigation to the outside world."

Lynch was recording while talking. The more he recorded, the more headache he felt. No wonder Archbishop Trinleth said that there were too many forces involved. After reading the dossier, he felt that the whole of Rand and even half of the world might be involved. This is only on the surface, there are many more who may be involved secretly.

With such a complicated matter, it’s no wonder that the archbishop refused to even give a direct introduction because he was afraid that the description of these forces would affect Lynch’s judgment. It seemed that this investigation report was really difficult to write.

"What's the next step?" Seeing Lynch finally closing the notebook, the police officer asked.

Lin Qi thought for a while and did not mention the strange death cases he heard from the archbishop. Instead, he pointed to the information he had just found and said: "Look here, the mountain people incited the workers to carry out violent protests and caused deaths, and More than one, it triggered a series of problems. This is very strange. Who are they fighting against? And the project has not started yet, how to fight? People even died. I think something is not right here, you can check Check the death case files to see if there are any hidden problems. Also, see if there are any other cases related to this railway, maybe there are also hidden connections."

"You mean, the death mentioned above may be related to the mystery?" Officer Natalie straightened her back immediately and her voice became serious.

"Since today's incident is definitely caused by a mysterious object, why can't the previous deaths be related to the mystery? What's more, the statement above is vague and unclear. Maybe there is something wrong."

"Indeed, we can't ignore this." The police officer became interested, "But the information on such vicious cases and deaths cannot be found in the city hall. You have to go to the Hall of Order."

As she spoke, the police officer took out her pocket watch and looked at it.

"It's past twelve o'clock, and the police should be having lunch too. There's no way they can find anyone there now. Let's have something to eat, and then go solve another problem on the way, which is near the Hall of Order." The police officer pointed out. Pointing to the box next to Lin Qi, "Didn't you say you wanted to try to trace the trajectory of this strange object from above? I'll take you to a place that might satisfy your request."

"Huh? Someone can do this?"

"Otherwise, how do you think I tracked you down the day before yesterday? I'll introduce her to you later. If nothing else, you will have a lot in common with her in the future."

"Huh? Why?"

"She is also a person with keen inspiration and a partner of the Watcher. She specializes in buying and selling mysteries. By the way, she also sells holy mysteries. The kind you need. Maybe she also has it. Let's go and take a look now. "

(End of this chapter)